MapQuest at 18: Older and Wiser Makes for Better Travel Experiences

Travel is more fun today, isn’t it? Travel is easier, more intuitive, more fulfilling and just plain better. If you had asked the good people who founded MapQuest in 1996, I think they would have shared that their hope for this — the pioneer provider of online maps and directions — would be to do just that: Make travel better.

Nearly two decades later, that’s why we MapQuest folk get out of bed every day. Our teams around the country and partners across the globe spend literally every second on the job working, yes, to improve travel, but also to expand your idea of how we can help make your DAY better.

As consumers, we look for help making 254,800 decisions each year. It’s exhausting! Just trying to decide what’s for dinner or where to take fido for a groom can spin the day in a sour direction.

But what if that didn’t have to happen? What if MapQuest were there to help with the most remedial decisions required every day?

Friends, that day is here. If you haven’t checked out the new MapQuest Local experience launched just last month, that’s a good place to start.

Taking Timmy to a soccer game and need to have dinner waiting when you get home? Review menus and order online from hundreds of thousands of restaurants nationwide.

Did your favorite professional hockey team surprise everyone and make it to the second round? Let us help you try and find last-minute tickets.

And don’t miss the myriad of other functionalities from booking an appointment and checking your flight status to finding a hotel or making a dinner reservation. It’s the beginnings of what we believe will be the best single source of local discovery and experience on the planet.

Though we find people appreciate printed directions and riding shotgun with them, millions have taken a liking to our free, re-imagined navigation apps launched late in 2013. Our heralded iOS and Android apps focus on the three most important areas for our consumers:

Safety: Our upside-down mode means you don’t have to monkey with your phone to navigate the road. Keep your hands on the 10-and-2, and we’ll flip things around for you.

Accuracy: Nobody in this business offers the plethora of algorithms we do to get you there, even if road conditions change and an alternate route is required.

Relevancy: Driving more than a few hours on your trip? Drag and drop the map icon to find hotel options along your route.

There’s a lot to see and do with the new MapQuest these days, and while we hope you take a peek at these meaningful offerings, we’re not even close to being done with them. Keep an eye on us these next few months as we continue to roll out features to make the every day better. Because it’s what happens AFTER you get there that matters, isn’t it?